Yorta Yorta woman Nartarsha Bamblett performed the traditional smoking ceremony blessing the land on which the developers of the Kyabram Greens Estate will build 210 lots.
Photo by
Jemma Jones
A traditional smoking ceremony at Parkland Golf Club’s edge marked the commencement of a landmark housing development project on the club’s boundary.
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On Friday, August 30, the wind was not strong enough to keep away the group gathered to watch a smoking ceremony ahead of the commencement of construction of Kyabram Greens Estate.
The ceremony was performed by Yorta Yorta woman Nartarsha Bamblett, who blessed the ground where hundreds of people will soon find solace in warm homes following the construction of the 210-lot development.
Around 20 people gathered at the edge of the golf club to watch the traditional ceremony, including community members and developers from Kyabram Green Estate.
Ms Bamblett said she was honoured to be able to share the history and culture of the land that is home to the world’s oldest continuously living culture — Australia’s Indigenous peoples.
She elaborated that the smoking ceremony served as a sacred ritual, invoking spirits to bestow blessings and protection upon the land, its First Nations inhabitants and all who visit, fostering a sense of unity and respect.
“We want to pay respects and acknowledge to each and every one of you ... that we are standing here together ... this marks a moment in time that we are a part of the bridge,” she said.
“We become the bridge when we stand and choose to walk together ... that heals us all, heals all of our hearts (for) those that have come before us and those that will come after us.”
The attendees were then invited to walk through the smoke and come with “purpose and intention”.
Ms Bamblett said she hoped the project, now blessed, would continue to grow.
“See it with a strong mind, a strong heart and a strong spirit all the way through,” she said.
Yorta Yorta woman Nartarsha Bamblett says the smoking ceremony is used as a sacred ritual to bless land and provide protection for its original First Nations owners and any visitors.
Photo by
Jemma Jones
Kyabram Greens Estate is a major sponsor of the Kyabram Football Netball Club, and club president John Guinan said the big housing company being willing to support the community was hugely positive.
“We’re more than rapt … we have a big development like this that gets behind the community and gets behind the football netball club because the heart and soul of Kyabram is sport,” he said.
Parkland Golf Club president Geoff Berry said that while he had not seen any machinery on the land at the boundary of the golf course, the prospect of construction was enough to be excited about.
“It’s bringing people into town, and it’s great to see something actually happening with that land,” Mr Berry said.
“It’s exciting for the golf club too because we’re hoping with the access the properties will have to the golf course that it will bring more people through our doors,” he said.
While the machinery has not begun appearing down at the soon-to-be construction site, the land — now blessed — is ripe and ready for development.
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